MOSCOW, February 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia has the impression that, in persuading Syria’s external opposition to join the Geneva II conference, its sponsors had only the replacement of the regime in mind, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

“They are prepared to discuss other issues, in the first place, the fight against terrorism, only after the creation of a transitional body, because ‘in the field’ government troops are confronted with the armed opposition,” he said.

Lavrov added that the Syrian government was prepared to discuss the implementation of the Geneva communique in full.